Most of the people and institutions involved in some way in the stock market are betting, or hoping, share prices will go up. Asset managers want to impress their clients with returns; companies want to impress shareholders with impressive stock market performance; and investors obviously want the value of their investments to increase. Short sellers are a threat to all these players, and consequently are almost universally disliked. But they play an important role in questioning and challenging the consensus view which gravitates towards the specious notion that all is well and will be so forever. In this sense, the report by short-sellers Viceroy on Capitec is welcome. They help to keep it real. But what is real? Capitec’s share price fell from R1,070 to R800 over the past five days, a roughly 25% decline. One investment bank has a target price of R1,200, another says R875 and yet another says R360. This is an unusually wide target, but it does illustrate how difficult it is even ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.